Jacques A. Bailly (born 1966)[1] was the 1980 champion of the Scripps National Spelling Bee and now serves as the official pronouncer of the Bee, a position he has held since 2003.[2]
Bailly grew up in the Denver, Colorado area. He began participating in spelling bees in sixth grade, training with a nun at his Catholic school.[2] He reached the National Spelling Bee as an eighth grader, and won with the word elucubrate.[3]
In college, Bailly studied Ancient Greek and Latin, then learned German in Switzerland with the help of a Fulbright scholarship.[2] In 1990, he wrote a letter to the National Spelling Bee organizers to offer his services, and was hired as an associated pronouncer.[4] Bailly became the head pronouncer after the death of Alex Cameron in 2003.[2]
Besides his duties with the spelling bee, Bailly works full-time as an associate professor of classics at the University of Vermont.[2][5]
Bailly plays himself in the 2006 film Akeelah and the Bee, which tells the story of a girl who competes in the National Spelling Bee.[2]
| Preceded by Katie Kerwin McCrimmon |
Scripps National Spelling Bee winner 1980 |
Succeeded by Paige Pipkin |